St. Matthew s Episcopal Church

Transcription

1 Parish Profile St. Matthew s Episcopal Church Hillsborough, NC Welcoming, Engaging, Grounded, Growing

2 Table of Contents NOTE TO A FUTURE RECTOR THE MISSION AND VALUES THAT BRING US TOGETHER WELCOMING Who we are Where we are GROUNDED Interface of core values with Vestry and standing committees Financial health ENGAGING What we offer GROWING Honoring our past and looking to the future OUR HOPES AND DREAMS APPENDIX Discernment Questions Diocese Information Helpful Links

3 NOTE TO A FUTURE RECTOR We welcome our new rector and new members to our lively and vibrant church in the lovely and historic town of Hillsborough, NC. We have articulated our vision as a parish in our mission statement and in our core values this was a several year process, involving many members of our congregation. We open our narrative by laying out our mission statement and core values, and then seek to show how we live out this vision. We look forward to working with you to expand and develop our values and mission together. We are eager, too, to learn about your vision, and to work as co-creators in developing our congregation. We share with you St. Matthew s weekly prayer for a new Rector: Loving God, as you bring us together as a united and hopeful congregation in seeking a new Rector, grant us the wisdom to search patiently, listen carefully and act wisely in that search. Give us the strength to be of one accord in our decision and to live in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. THE MISSION AND VALUES THAT BRING US TOGETHER We live as a community of faith that feeds God s people from the abundance of God s grace. Our soil is rich and life-giving, and our roots run deep. God s grace nourishes and inspires us to be a parish that is Welcoming, Grounded, Engaging and Growing. We welcome all those who enter our doors and are eager to show hospitality to each other and our broader community. We are grounded in our loving God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us and in our Christian faith, our Episcopal tradition, and our parish heritage and sense of place. Our Core Values inspire us to ministry through Worship, Fellowship, Service to Others, Education, Stewardship, Spiritual Practices, Faith & the Arts, and our Heritage. We engage with each other and make a difference in the world through our worship and prayers, and our many and varied outreach ministries and programs. We partner with other churches and organizations to fulfill Christ s call to serve generously in his name. We grow in our knowledge and love of God by intending to be a community of openness and adaptability, love and compassion, creativity and beauty, careful listening and honest exploration of faith. We are also growing physically, as our congregation flourishes. Welcoming, Grounded, Engaging and Growing are intertwined expressions of our life together in Christ that inspire us to ministry, and joyful, prayerful worship. We hope and trust that through our life together in Christ, we embody and live out our core values and mission.

4 WELCOMING We are a warm congregation and community and we welcome those seeking spiritual renewal, prayer, belonging, and a place for safe haven. Our multigenerational family is diverse in thought, background, talent and interests, and we appreciate this diversity. We gladly share our facilities and resources to support many outreach ministries and community programs, and we partner with other churches and organizations to fulfill Christ s call to serve generously in His name. St. Matthew s has often been called Hillsborough s community church, and we hope to maintain and strengthen that tie by continuing to bring people to St. Matthew s for worship and other events, and by going into the community to serve others. St. Matthew s historic buildings and grounds attract passing visitors, new parishioners, and area clergy. The vitality of our worshipping community, in response to our mission and vision, fills our sanctuary, meeting rooms and campus, spills out to our neighbors and sustains us as this particular body of Christ. Who We Are Congregation We are people from many walks of life who have found and continue to find comfort, spiritual renewal and a sense of purpose as members of St. Matthew s congregation. We live and work throughout the Piedmont area yet experience a vital sense of homecoming at each Eucharistic gathering in our church. St. Matthew s currently has 354 members. Our most recognized stained glass window, the Angel of Praise window is a Tiffany glass window originally installed in 1899 (Photo by Alex Armstrong) We are an open minded congregation, intellectually curious and willing to explore new ideas at our weekly adult education hour (the Adult Forum), as well as in book discussions, bible study, and in every committee. Compassionate and caring, we work on behalf of our parishioners, our larger community and the world through many service opportunities. Serve One Another and the Shawl Ministry are some of the ways we support each other in times of celebration and of need. We support and actively participate in community ministries that provide food for those who are hungry, ecumenical ministry for the incarcerated, and assistance with building or repairing homes for those in want of shelter. In the broader world we support a medical mission to Armenia and donate money to the Episcopal Relief and Development fund. Our young people have raised money to support ERD projects such as fresh water wells and NetsforLife.

5 Our congregation s energy, generosity of time and talent, and willingness to go the extra mile are testaments to our dedication to do God s work. Staff We are blessed with a staff who enjoy working collaboratively, in what they describe as a holiness of place ; most are active members of St. Matthew s. We have grown a lot in 27 years. In 1990 we had a rector and two part time staff members; in 2005 we hired our first part-time Assistant Rector. We currently support seven part-time staff positions: the Assistant Rector, an Organist and Director of Music, a Director of Christian Formation, a Parish Administrator, a Financial Secretary, a Caretaker for Buildings & Grounds, and a Nursery Attendant. In addition to paid staff, we have dedicated volunteers serving as a Lay Pastoral Care Leader, Treasurer, and Clerk to the Vestry. Over the years we have been graced with two Deacons who assist with services and inspire outreach ministries, as well as many Duke Divinity School Interns. We are also fortunate to have several Priest Associates who often serve as teachers, preachers and celebrants in worship. Where We Are Hillsborough, North Carolina Hillsborough is a vibrant small town of 7,300 people, situated slightly north of the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill), in central North Carolina. Its proximity to Interstates 85 and 40 allows fast access to nearby cities as well as to four major universities: University of North Carolina, N.C. State University, North Carolina Central University, and Duke University. Hillsborough provides a congenial home for university and medical center personnel, as well as authors, artists, crafts people, farmers - all manner of folk! People meet and greet on sidewalks and porches, in restaurants and stores. Hillsborough s past goes back hundreds of years and includes a mix of Native American, Revolutionary, and Civil War history. Today, Hillsborough offers much to enhance the lifestyle of its residents and to entice visitors. Recreation, sporting and leisure options are numerous and varied. Fourteen restaurants (some award winning), five art galleries, two museums, and many unique shops line the downtown streets. Pubs, coffee shops, a wine store, a yarn store, an organic grocery store, a public library, two book stores, a hardware store, and an artisan chocolate shop are all located a few blocks from each other. St. Matthew s and its rectory are within a five minute walk to the center of downtown. West Hillsborough, a small and vibrant shopping area less than a mile from downtown Hillsborough, also boasts several eating establishments. The two mile paved Riverwalk Greenway lies parallel to the Eno River and connects Gold Park in West Hillsborough to the Historic Occoneechee Speedway on the eastern boundary of town. It is ADA accessible, and part of the North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail. For a shorter stroll, also along the Eno River, the one mile Poet s Walk is an easy trail on the grounds of Ayr Mount, an 18 th century historical home open to visitors and used as an event venue. Many parks are dotted around town: the Exchange

6 Club Park, Fairview Park, Gold Park, and the Turnip Patch Park. Just outside the downtown area are the Triangle Area Polo Club & Arena, Orange County Sportsplex, Occoneechee Mountain State Park, Occoneechee Golf Club, and the Eno River State Park. Schools in Hillsborough Hillsborough has a wealth of excellent schools. A short walk from the rectory through St. Matthew's churchyard is Cameron Park Elementary School, and the rectory is within its zone. Cameron Park features a diverse school community of about 600 students and many active parents, teachers and administrators. It also has a very high number of nationally board certified teachers. Just a five minute drive up the road are Stanford Middle School and Orange High School, for which the rectory is also zoned. In addition to its college prep program, Orange High is known for its agriculture program and sports. Many students are also enrolled in a college partnership program with the Hillsborough campus of Durham Tech, a local community college. The career and technical education classes at Orange High build a Habitat House every year as part of their curriculum. Every public school in Orange County has a nurse, social worker, counselor, and safety officer. Every elementary school has makerspace for coding and robotics projects. There are also two STEM focused charter schools in the area: the Expedition School, located in West Hillsborough, and Eno River Academy, which is just up the road from the rectory. County Commissioners invest a lot of money in our schools, and voters recently passed a bond to provide supplemental funds. The Rectory St. Matthew s Rectory is a lovely historic home located on an attractive two acre parcel of land. Situated across the street from the sanctuary and one block from the center of town, it is also within walking distance of Cameron Park Elementary School. The Rectory has undergone several renovations over the years, the most recent being a major kitchen renovation in 2007 and painting and floor refinishing in The Rectory grounds are maintained by the Church.

7 Size: Approximately 2800 square feet First Floor: Master bedroom and bath, powder room, kitchen, living room, den, dining room, enclosed sunroom, utility/laundry room, large covered front porch, small back deck Second Floor: 2 bedrooms and a full bath Detached, small storage building behind Rectory

8 GROUNDED We are spiritually grounded in our loving God, in our Christian faith, our Episcopal tradition, and our parish heritage. Our nine core values provide organization for our Vestry, committee structure and activities. In addition, we enjoy solid financial health, which allows us to pursue our mission and live out our values. Interface of Core Values with Vestry and Standing Committees We are a nine person vestry; each vestry position links to one of our Core Value areas. Each Core Value is represented by a standing committee. Our various other committees, task forces, and ministries (46 in total) are aligned to one of those standing committees. This facilitates collaboration and communication across leadership and participant networks. Education - Sunday Morning Adult Forum - Sunday Morning Bible Study - Family Faith Formation - Education for Ministry - Adult Inquirers Class - Nursery Volunteers - Sunday Morning Children s Classes - Youth Group Heritage / Property - Archives and History - Cemetery Committee - Churchyard Appearance Committee - Fine Arts & Furnishing Committee - Parish Workdays - Society of Junior Wardens Service to Others / Social Ministries - Social Ministries Committee - Alamance Orange Prison Ministry - Fest - Orange Congregations in Mission - Habitat For Humanity - Food For All - Iglesia El Buen Pastor - Dickerson Chapel AME Partnership - Honduras Medical Mission - Racial Justice and Reconciliation Faith & the Arts - Faith & the Arts Programs Vestry Worship & Spiritual Practice - Acolytes - Altar Guild - Eucharistic Minister - Music - Other Liturgical Leadership - Women s singing Circle - Children s Chapel Service to Others / Pastoral Care - Care and Discernment Groups - Pastoral Care, Visitation, & Eucharistic Visitors - Serve One Another - Shawl Ministry - Brookshire Service Holistic Stewardship - Standing Stewardship Committee - Annual Giving Campaign - Health and Wholeness Ministry Fellowship & Hospitality - Coffee Hour - Greeting Ministry - Ladies Night Out - Men s Fellowship - Parish Life Committee - Newcomer Committee - Receptions Administration - Communications - Finance Committee - Office Support - Personnel Committee - Vestry Service

9 Financial Health Our fiscal heritage is one of meeting our annual budget with generous financial pledges and faithful fulfillment of those pledges. From , pledging grew 25% and the operating budget 21%. We self-fund our capital renovations and expansions and maintain a growing endowment fund. Our history of remaining debt free is a blessing! Year ASA Pledging Units Pledged Amount Operating Rev $393,600 $449, $377,000 $458, $403,600 $460, $425,100 $479,600

10 ENGAGING We engage with our fellow parishioners and community as we seek to follow Christ s call to nurture each other through worship, prayer, fellowship, education, formation, and care of one another. What We Offer Worship Services We worship through various forms of the Episcopal Liturgy in the understated beauty of our sanctuary. Currently we hold two regular services (Rite I and Rite II) on Sunday mornings and a Wednesday midday Eucharist. Our Rite I service is quiet and reflective; Rite II a more traditional service with music. At special times and occasions (e.g. Christmas) we enrich our worship through Evensong, Morning Prayer, Lessons and Carols, and other services, such as Youth Sunday and Recovery Sunday. Christian Education & Formation The Director of Christian Formation oversees a vibrant education program for children, youth, and adults. The current curriculum includes Godly Play (grades 1-2), Growing in Christ (grades 3-5) and ReForm (grades 6-12), Children s Chapel, adult Bible study and Adult Forum, Family Faith Formation, Education for Ministry (EfM), and Youth Group. The Godly Play and Growing in Christ children participate in a monthly choral offering at the 10:30 service. Opportunities for Involvement Forty-six committees, each related to one of our Core Values, express an active mutual ministry ethos. Our committees are peopled with parishioners and staff, and enable a wide variety of ministries within and outside of our congregation. Some examples are: Newcomer s, Health & Wholeness, Serve One Another, Shawl Ministry, Archives and History, Churchyard Appearance, Finance, Altar Guild, Prison Ministry, and Racial Justice and Reconciliation Task Force. Spiritual Expression and Growth through the Arts Spiritual engagement through the arts is an integral part of St. Matthew s worship and expression of faith, and is part of our Faith & the Arts Core Value. The spiritual commitment shaping our music and other artistic ministries touches hearts and souls during Sunday worship, ecumenical services, and outreach activities.

11 St. Matthew s has an excellent adult choir. Director of Music, David Arcus, is a gifted musician, organist and teacher who brought his 27 years of experience at Duke Chapel to our church five years ago. On Saturday mornings, Dr. Arcus leads Voice for Life, a program from the Royal School of Church Music that encourages vocal exercise, singing technique, and music notation to encourage a life-long love of music. Faith and the Arts events bring a wide variety of talented local musicians, songwriters, visual artists, poets, writers, filmmakers and others to St. Matthew s. Such artists open new paths of experiencing and expressing God s grace. Our Faith and the Arts programs are attended by parishioners and non-members alike, and connect us with our broader community which strongly supports our events. In addition, the Women s Singing Circle, a non-denominational group of a capella singers, meets monthly in the sanctuary. Outreach Ministries & FeST Our many artisans contribute to FeST, Festival of the Society Tree, an annual arts and crafts festival, which both supports our social ministries and is connected to our history, as it honors the 19 th century Ladies Sewing Society of St. Matthew s. This group of church women saved the church from neglect after the Civil War by selling handmade fine needlework throughout the eastern seaboard. Our current FeST is a compendium of handmade crafts, wreaths and greenery, home baked goods, and even dining in the Ordinary, named after the early taverns in 18th and 19th century Hillsborough. Since its inception ten years ago, FeST has been a success and earns several thousand dollars annually for our numerous outreach ministries. It remains an anticipated event not only for St. Matthew s, but for our surrounding communities as well. Interdenominational Worship and Hospitality For the past two years, St. Matthew s has participated in special Lenten services with five other Hillsborough churches. This ministry grew out of a vision shared by our former rector and by Pastor Donald Holman of Dickerson Chapel AME, our sister church in Hillsborough, with whom we celebrate a combined congregational service on the months which have a 5th Sunday. Six churches in Hillsborough-- First Baptist, Hillsborough Presbyterian, Holy Family Catholic, Hillsborough Methodist, Dickerson Chapel AME, and St. Matthew s-- each hosted a noontime service during Lent, followed by a luncheon. The packed churches and fellowship halls bore witness to the desire for shared worship among members of Hillsborough congregations.

12 GROWING Honoring our Past and Looking to the Future. Our Archives & History Committee protects and restores parish registers, records and documents dating from 1824 onward. In 2013, they presented the program Knowing and Telling our Congregational Stories: A Workshop on Parish Archives and History St. Matthew s, Hillsborough. St. Matthew s sanctuary and churchyard date from so we have many stories to tell! Remembering and acknowledging people and events reminds of us of the constancy of change, illuminates current opportunities for thoughtful reflection, and engenders curiosity about future directions and decisions. Changes and growth in the past 3 decades include twenty-first century renovations to our beloved sanctuary, churchyard and church buildings. These required eight years of careful planning; we have been fortunate to have parishioners with expertise in financing, design, and construction who could oversee the work. Rededicated by Bishop Michael Curry in 2008, the sanctuary and grounds received designation in the National Register of Historic Places (2000) and as a Living Historic Church in the Episcopal Diocese of NC (2011). Congregationally, we have grown from an Average Sunday Attendance of 81 with 3 children in 1990, to one of 181 with 42 children in Our choir has expanded from 6 to 18 members. In 1990, the new rector set up shop in a 1957-era parish house that was used for all non-sanctuary events. Now, that renovated and named Hayden Building boasts an enlarged Fellowship Hall and kitchen, a nursery, classrooms, staff offices and three restrooms. The Ruffin House, constructed in 2000 and renovated in 2018, contains our youth room, choir room, Rector s office, administrative office, Graebner library/meeting room, kitchen space and two restrooms. A new educational building, anticipated for completion in 2019, will add classroom and meeting space and allow further reallocation of space. That we are able, in this time of transition, to initiate a building project, speaks to the financial and spiritual strength of St. Matthew s congregation. We are growing spiritually in our knowledge and love of God to be a community of openness and adaptability, love and compassion, creativity and beauty, careful listening and honest exploration of faith. As we have grown in numbers and spaces, we have grown even more so in our sense of God calling us to mutual ministry, and in our responses to that call.

13 OUR HOPES AND DREAMS As part of the search process, we have had a number of conversations with parishioners: over 125 people participated in these discussions, showing our congregation s deep commitment to St. Matthew s. From our conversations we learned both about what keeps us together and about some areas of difference which we want to learn to navigate in a spirit filled way. Here are some of the main points from these conversations; these points reveal a great deal about us and about the qualities we seek in a new rector. We value a rector who is present with us in our sorrows and in our joys. Both young people and adults want to integrate younger members more fully into the life of our church. Families with young children and teenagers yearn for a worship service that is more accessible to busy lives (Saturday early evening was suggested), more musically accessible (hymns memorable to children and with contemporary tempo and instruments for teens) and that express, in the words of our youth group members, enthusiasm. People want also to keep the beauty and breadth of the traditional service. We want to keep much of what we have: our outreach and inreach ministries, such as Food for All, OCIM, Faith and the Arts, our Lenten series, our book discussions, a strong music program, our care and discernment groups, as well as ministries that bring us together such as FeST, Shawl Ministry, Archives and History, and the Newcomers Committee. Many of us expressed a desire for sustained, smaller fellowship opportunities that deepen friendships, spiritual growth, and strengthen reliance and trust in one another. Some members want to deepen their contemplative practice. We are a congregation that likes to learn something from our sermons - to have them be scripturally based, insightful and meaningful to our lives. We want sermons that are relevant, but not overtly political. (see appendix) While we are committed to growth, we remain cautious about too much change. The configuration of our campus and our sanctuary is bounded in ways that must be taken into account as we encourage a sustaining congregation.

14 Some of us are deeply committed to working on issues of race as in our Racial Justice & Reconciliation Task force; some are wary of a communal commitment to that work. For some, Sunday services provide respite from the barrage of news and stress inherent in our daily lives. Some of us welcome learning to improve skills for civil, caring conversation on these issues and dynamics. For others, church is not where these differences find resolution. All of this together means that we look for a rector experienced in keeping us working on respecting differences while still holding, honoring and living within what we have in common. We want to work with a rector experienced in conversation and collaboration; someone who will listen to us, and is skilled at helping us to learn to be present for one another in our places of difference; someone who will strengthen us where we hold so much in common. Our future rector should be enthusiastic with a sense of humor; we seek a leader who will trust us and who will lead us in a collaborative style. Our new rector should be prepared to listen and learn about the Outreach commitments for which St. Matthew s is known in the community, and be deeply involved in pastoral care and supporting the care of parishioners one for another. We seek someone who will be part of the Hillsborough community and help us to be grounded where we live. We think it will be important for the next rector to listen to us for a while before instituting change, to move slowly, and to consider what it means for a congregation to grow after a beloved rector of 27 years retired. To address prospective applicants directly, we look forward to learning your priorities and vision and to growing with you both in our inner lives and in our commitment to embodying God's dream for us.

15 APPENDIX Parish Questions and Word Clouds To inform our parish profile we had a number of meetings with Parishioners, in large and small groups. In each meeting we asked a consistent set of questions. Below are word clouds created from the answers we received from several of those questions. We re including them here in the hope that they would provide some interesting context about us and what we re looking for. If you are not familiar with a word cloud, the larger a word appears the more frequently it came up as an answer for that questions. Question: What experiences at St. Matthews fulfill your spiritual life? We will soon have the opportunity for new possibilities, what experiences would further enhance your spiritual growth.

16 Question: We anticipate a great deal of growth in Hillsborough and the surrounding areas in the coming months and years. How will we embrace that growth and the challenges that will come along with it?

17 Question: What makes a good Sermon?

18 The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina We are 50,000 people gathered into 111 congregations and 10 campus ministries throughout 38 counties in the central part of North Carolina, from Iredell County to Edgecombe County, and from Caswell County to Scotland County. On an average Sunday, more than 15,000 gather to worship across our diocese. Our vision as a diocese is to be a community of disciples committed to following Jesus Christ into the dream of God for us and for all creation. Our diocese functions under a bishop, the Right Reverend Samuel Rodman. The Right Reverend Anne E. Hodges-Copple is the bishop suffragan. It is divided into seven convocations, each headed by a dean. We are one of three dioceses in North Carolina, including the Diocese of East Carolina and the Diocese of Western North Carolina, and one of 110 dioceses that make up The Episcopal Church, a community of 2.4 million members in the United States and abroad. The Episcopal Church is headed by a presiding bishop, currently the Most Rev. Michael Curry. We are also part of the Anglican Communion, a global community of 74 million persons in 38 member provinces throughout the world, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently the Most Reverend and Right Honorable Justin Welby. All are welcome. We invite you to worship with us and share our joy. Helpful Links Below are a list of links about Hillsborough and surrounding area: